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A record 50 lakh I-T returns were filed on August 31, which was the last day for filing returns.
According to the Tax Department, total of 5.65 crore assesses filed their return (electronic and physical form), a growth of over 4 per cent.
Late returns can be filed from now and till March 31, 2020 after paying a fine. Filing of returns between September 1 and December 31, 2019, will attract a fine ₹5,000. For the period between January 1 and March 31, 2020, one will have to pay ₹10,000 as fine. Post March 31, 2020, return for Assessment Year 2019-20 (Financial Year 2018-19) will be accepted only after approval from the department.
However, the last date for two other categories of assesses, — one whose accounts need to be audited (mainly companies) and second those who have undertaken international transactions during 2018-19 — is September 30 and November 30 respectively.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said on Sunday that the total e-filing return on August 31 was 49,29,121, which has “perhaps created a history as the tax administration nowhere in the world has achieved such huge online e-filing ITRs in a single day and that too so smoothly with the I-T department actively interacting with taxpayers on social media to help them resolve their grievances and e-filing related queries and getting accolades in return.”
It also said the peak filing rate per second was at 196 ITRs, per minute was at 7,447 ITRs and peak filing rate per hour was at 3,87,571 ITRs.
Attacks thwarted
The Information Security team of I-T department thwarted over 2,205 malicious attacks on its website aimed at disrupting services in the peak period.
The CBDT said that out of the 5.65 core ITRs filed electronically so far, 3.61 crore have been verified. About 2.86 crore taxpayers (79 per cent) have opted for e-verification, mostly using Aadhaar OTP. The I-T Department intends to carry out campaigns to increase awareness about e-verification of ITRs where verification is still pending.
The CBDT further said that taxpayers’ grievances on e-Nivaran, email and on call centre were responded immediately with a turnaround time for twitter being 4 hours on queries related to e-filing. It also issued two circulars to clarify issues raised by taxpayers, ensuring that taxpayer anxieties were allayed.
Now, the CBDT also plans to educate taxpayers about the need for linking their bank accounts with PAN to ensure direct credit of refund to taxpayer bank account through ECS (Electronic Clearing System) and the requirement for linking PAN with Aadhaar by September 30.
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